For the Love of Sugar
by Burgie
Summary: The changeling Queen Chrysalis is back, only now she's invaded a world very close to the human one. Vanellope is now thrown into a situation both like and unlike one she's been in before. She's been overthrown before but never after an upgrade, and never with the love of her life at stake. Can Twilight and Felix fix it before it's too late? Ralph/Older Vanellope, post-s3 Twilight
1. First Task as Princess

Twilight had not expected her first task as princess to be something like this.

"Sugar Rush? I don't think there's even a place like that in Equestria," she commented, flicking through her book of maps. Sure enough, there was not one mention of a place called Sugar Rush.

"Twilight." The new princess looked up at her former mentor, who would forever be her superior in her mind.

"Princess Celestia, I was just about to come find you," Twilight smiled, placing the book back on the ground. She got to her feet and ran to give her a neck-hug, smiling at the comforting touch.

"I thought as much, which is why I came to find you first. Now, as I'm sure you've already discovered, Sugar Rush is not a part of Equestria. It is a part of another universe, and is a world within a world," the princess of the sun explained. "I wouldn't have delegated the task to you if I wasn't positive that you could perform it."

"But are you sure I can?" Twilight worried. "Last time, it was Cadence and Shining Armour who defeated Chrysalis. Even you couldn't defeat her!" That last part was what was worrying her the most.

"And it will again be a royal couple who will ultimately defeat the changeling queen," Celestia informed her, starting off in the direction of the throne room. "However, they will need your help. That will be your task."

"So it'll be just like when I helped Cadence, right?" Twilight figured, finally relaxing. Her wings hadn't been folded against her sides ever since she'd received her task.

"Essentially, yes," Celestia nodded. "However, there is one major difference." She approached a door at the end of the throne room and Twilight followed her through, eager to see more of the castle. Her eyes widened and she gasped as she saw the mirror that took up the length of one long wall.

"Princess, what is this?" she breathed, taking in the sight of what looked like the arcade in Ponyville. There was just one, as Celestia had said, major difference. There were no ponies in the arcade. Rather, they were all the bipeds that Twilight had once read about. _Humans._

"This is a portal to another realm," Celestia explained, a golden glow surrounding her horn and the mirror. The view seemed to zoom in on one racing game in particular, with some catchy Japonese song playing. The mirror soon filled with a name that Twilight had seen before. _Sugar Rush_ was spelled out on one of the fields, looking surprisingly like frosting. Her mouth watered at the sight. But then Celestia was nudging her forward. "Good luck, Twilight," she said quietly, and pushed the pupil-turned-princess into the mirror.

Twilight screamed all the way down until she landed in the green field, forgetting her wings in her moment of distress.

"Is everything here made of frosting?" she groaned, reminded of one certain frosting-filled party with Pinkie Pie. It would take forever to get all the frosting out of her fur, not to mention her new wings. Shaking herself off and removing about two-thirds of the frosting with the action, Twilight brought out the scroll that had her instructions on it.

_My dear Princess Twilight,_

_I have not put you on a mission since you were my student, however the current task I require of you is of the utmost important. Somehow, Queen Chrysalis has taken over Sugar Rush and is currently residing in the castle. You must go there and defeat the changeling queen once again before she starts a new reign. I am positive that you can perform this task and still be home for the Equestria Games. I will be watching so if you need my help, just ask._

_Your faithful subject, _

_Princess Celestia_

She could see a castle in the distance, so this was where she headed. The Japonese song, she noticed, played constantly. She really hoped that she could defeat Chrysalis as soon as possible.


	2. Wedding Day

Ever since the upgrade, a lot of changes had taken over Sugar Rush. The most noticeable one was the addition of new racers, as well as the changing of Princess Vanellope's age and title. She was now Queen Vanellope, as of the last few minutes, and she'd been in her early 20s since the upgrade. Her king, however, hadn't even been royalty before the wedding. In fact, he'd been a bad guy, but he was her hero.

"Well, my king, how does it feel being royalty?" she giggled, leading him away from the throne room where they'd officially been crowned and out to the Candy Cane forest where they'd first met. This place was still so special to them.

"No different to being the wrecking guy," he shrugged.

"Well, good. I wouldn't want you to change just because you're the king of Sugar Rush now," Vanellope giggled, poking him in the chest. At least she could do that now, just like she could finally wrap her arms (and every other part of her) around him.

"And I'm a true king. Now like 'King Candy'," Ralph agreed, supplying the air quotes. Vanellope nodded eagerly and wrapped her arms around him, eager to feel every inch of her new king.

"Is it okay if I still want to be called 'president'?" she asked, a little nervous that he'd want them to be king and queen everywhere.

"I told you before, of course it's okay," Ralph smiled gently at her. "You might be queen to everyone else here in Sugar Rush, but just between you and me, you're a president and I'm... what was it you used to call me?"

"Senator Stinkbrain," she giggled, then reached up to capture his lips with hers. She'd loved him for so long, but now with her adult form she could safely kiss him without others looking at them in disgust. And he could finally hold her and have not-so-innocent sleepovers at the castle and in his shack.

"I love you, Senator Stinkbrain," she said softly, resting her head on his chest.

"Love you too, President Vanellope," he replied, and sat down with his back against one of the candy cane trees to spend some quality alone time with his new wife.

On the way back to the royal bedchambers, Vanellope fidgeted in her too-frilly-for-her-tastes white wedding dress. And now it was all covered in cocoa dust and random candy cane bits from rolling around on the ground with her husband. Calhoun hadn't had a big poofy dress, so why did she have to have one? Sometimes, being a 'queen' was hard. Noticing her discomfort, Ralph offered to wait in the bedchambers while she changed.

"Thanks," she grinned, reaching up to give him one last lingering kiss before she walked into one of the rooms to change into something more comfortable. Of course, she could have just glitched into a different outfit, but she wanted it to be a surprise. She was the one who got a surprise.


	3. The Takeover

Vanellope didn't even have time to scream at the sight of the fangs in the _thing's_ mouth. With barely a sound but for the whistling of wind through the holes in the creature's legs, two black hooves connected squarely with the queen's back and knocked her forward so that she hit her head on the corner of the table in the middle of the room. Panting from the small amount of exertion, the black creature climbed onto the table and sent out a mental call for her hivemates.

_'I have successfully disabled the queen. Retrieve her and put her in that huge cavern where we've been living. I will bring you food as soon as the task is done,'_ she commanded, trembling. Lowering her head, the changeling queen absorbed the girl's love and, more importantly, form. When it was done, she stood on the table looking at the girl whose identity she'd just stolen. She felt so much stronger from the love that the girl had for her husband, and knew that she'd make for a great source of food for her changelings. Maybe she could even provide enough every day for however long it took to replace every racer with a changeling. Then, they could feed on the love of the citizens forever! Grinning with glee, the false queen hopped nimbly off the table and searched for something else to wear. Even Cadence's dress hadn't been this frilly and annoying.

Before too long, two smaller changelings flew into the room through one of the large windows and alighted on either end of the girl's body.

"Whatever you do, don't be seen," Chrysalis hissed, amazed at the sweetness of the girl's voice. Her subjects nodded before flying the girl out the window and towards the cavern. She hoped that they wouldn't be seen, drop her, or any of the other thousands of things that could go wrong. Standing up straight, the once-quadruped exited the room wearing a much simpler green dress, resisting the urge to pick at the candies dotting her long black hair.

The flight back to the cavern was easy, with the only interruption being when the girl stirred in her sleep. Luckily, by then they'd been close enough to the entrance to drop her into the hidden hole and follow her down. Rather than hitting the hard ground, though, the rightful queen landed on a marshmallow bed and was swiftly tied to it by her wrists and ankles using some red licorice. Around her, changelings gathered to feed on the love that their queen had reported as being extremely nourishing and seemingly never-ending. For once, every changeling was able to feed to their heart's content and the host didn't weaken at all. She did, however, sleep for much longer.


	4. Sacrifices

The changeling queen groaned as the song looped again, but it was out of pain rather than annoyance. Being a biped really did wear on a quadruped's back, even one who could move her bones to take the shape of a human. She just didn't have the proper musculature. When no one was around, she hunched over to put her back in a more comfortable and natural position. This helped a little, but unfortunately she couldn't do it very often or for very long. Not for the first time, she wondered at her foolishness of choosing this game, of all games, to infiltrate. And she chuckled at Celestia's foolishness of leaving the mirror portal room unguarded.

"My queen, are you alright?" the little sour ball asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Chrysalis replied in as calm a voice as possible once she'd straightened up. "I just thought I dropped something. I didn't."

"Oh. Well, as soon as the arcade closes, you'll have a visitor," the ball informed her. "She came to the castle last night looking for you but I sent her away."

"Thank you," Chrysalis replied, smiling at the sour ball even as she remembered trying to feed on his love. It had left a distinctly sour taste in her mouth. "What was her name?"

"She was quite a strange caller. She said that her name was Princess Twilight Sparkle," the butler informed her. Chrysalis froze. Twilight was here? And since when had she become a princess?!

"Very well. Please come get me as soon as she arrives," Chrysalis told him. Sour Bill had noticed that Vanellope's speech had changed, but he put it down to her new role as queen. Once the sour ball had walked away, Chrysalis once again sagged and walked out of the castle to check on her new hive.

The screaming reached her ears before she'd even got halfway down the tunnel. Growling, she vowed to have a serious word with her changelings about keeping the noise down.

"Make her shut up!" the changeling queen snapped. "I can hear her halfway down the tunnel!" Still fuming, she stalked towards her prisoner.

"Wha? Me? How is that me when I'm here?" the true queen asked, looking at the changeling queen and then back at herself.

"Idiot girl," Chrysalis chuckled as she turned back into herself. Standing on all fours again felt so very relaxing, and she took a moment to smile in relief.

"Who are you? Did Turbo or one of his buddies put you up to this?" Vanellope demanded, struggling against the red vines.

"Who? No, I'm Queen Chrysalis, and this will be my new home. You will help feed my swarm for many years, especially if I keep your husband locked up," Chrysalis replied, sneering at her. Vanellope shuddered at the sharp fangs.

"Don't hurt Ralph," Vanellope pleaded. "Leave him alone, his game's almost got unplugged before and it was bad enough then."

"Game? What are you talking about?" Chrysalis asked, walking closer to the queen and staring down at her.

"You've taken control of my game so how do you not know what the games are?" Vanellope wondered, looking at the changeling with wide, confused eyes.

"Does anyone else know what she's talking about?" Chrysalis demanded, looking around at her swarm.

"She never stops talking about it," one of the guards admitted. "Apparently this is an arcade and she and her husband are from two different games. Of course she's from this one but you already knew that."

"Hmm," the changeling queen hummed thoughtfully, "I'm thinking that we can use this to our advantage." With a swift kick, she'd knocked the girl unconscious again so she could discuss her plan with her swarm without the queen overhearing.

"So does everyone understand the new plan?" she asked once she'd finished explaining it. To her delight, heads all around nodded in the affirmative. "Good, good. I'd better return to the castle now to trick Twilight into believing I'm still the queen, and then I'll go over to the game her husband's from to scope out the levels of love there." She departed, turning back into Vanellope and once more cringing at the pain of standing on two legs.

To her disbelief, the gate wouldn't allow her through, no matter how much she pounded on it or shouted at it.

"What is this forcefield?" she hissed, running at it to try to weaken it. She contemplated the idea of getting her changelings to pound against it, which had worked for the last force field, but decided that it was too risky. Screaming in defeat, she stalked back to the castle to await Twilight Sparkle. Surely she'd be able to trick her, even if she was unable to do anything else. She'd tricked her before, after all.


	5. She's a Changeling

Twilight stood at the door of the castle, Snowanna by her side, and debated whether or not to knock again.

"Don't worry, sug, he'll be here soon," Snowanna assured her, so Twilight could only wait for the butler to arrive.

"Oh, you're back. I'll just take you to the queen. Right this way," Sour Bill, as Snowanna had told her was his name, informed them as he ushered them in.

"Thank you so much for this," Twilight smiled at him gratefully before following him with Snowanna by her side.

"My queen, your visitor has arrived," Sour Bill announced in his monotone voice as they arrived at the throne.

"Ah, good," the queen replied, recognition shining in her eyes as she saw Twilight. "So, why did you come to see me? I hope that you're not planning on racing."

"I came to ask you about any intruders," Twilight replied, smiling pleasantly. "I have reason to believe that your game may be under threat." Beside her, Snowanna nodded, confirming that she'd gotten the lingo right.

"Yeah, Vanellope, like when Turbo was an intruder," Snowanna added. Vanellope only blinked in confusion.

"I don't know what you mean," she replied, and Twilight could detect her nervousness. "There are no intruders here."

"Oh, really?" Twilight replied coolly, not wanting to give the game away yet. Chrysalis had attacked her the last time she'd called her out too early, after all. "That's too bad, then. Just keep on the lookout for any intruders, okay?" Vanellope nodded.

"Will do," she promised. "Thank you for warning me, Twilight."

"Anytime," Twilight replied, and trotted out of the castle with Snowanna.

"That's not Vanellope," both of them said in unison, and then giggled.

"Vanellope would remember Turbo for sure after he almost killed her," Snowanna told her, and Twilight nodded.

"She recognised me," Twilight added. "We can't call her out on it yet, though. Last time I made that mistake, she set her swarm on me and my friends. If she set it on this game, I can't even imagine how bad it would be."

"It'd probably really dishearten the racers, too," Snowanna added. "They were under threat by Cybugs not too long ago."

"Cybugs? And you haven't told me about Turbo yet," Twilight wondered as she walked back to the candy cane forest with the racer.

"Oh, right. It was a really bad time for us so you'll excuse me for not talking about it too readily," Snowanna replied, resting her hand on Twilight's shoulder for comfort. The pony was her height, so it was a lot like resting her hand on another racer's shoulder.

"I understand. Princess Luna doesn't like mentioning her time as Nightmare Moon either," Twilight sighed. "She was jealous of the ponies' love for her sister's day when she was younger, and the jealousy transformed her into a dangerous monster called Nightmare Moon. She shrouded Equestria in eternal darkness which was only lifted when Celestia banished her to the moon."

"Oh, that sounds terrible," Snowanna sympathised. "It's a lot like Turbo, too. He was once the most popular game in the arcade, but then another game came along to steal his thunder. So he went into that game and made a lot of strange things start happening. Eventually, both games were unplugged. Everyone thought he was dead, but then a mysterious new racer called King Candy showed up claiming to be the true ruler. He tampered with the game's code and made Vanellope a homeless little glitch. She was miserable for years. But then Ralph came along and figured it out. He helped her regain her title of princess and Turbo was ultimately killed by the Cybugs. Well, it was actually the boiling diet cola." Twilight giggled slightly, although she did see similarities in Luna's story.

"So what are the Cybugs?" Twilight asked. If the racers would be reminded of them by a swarm of changelings, they couldn't be much different to them.

"They're pretty much what they sound like," the younger racer shrugged. "They look like bugs but whatever they eat, they take the form of. In the words of Sergeant Calhoun, they-"

"Eat, kill, multiply." The sergeant walked up to them as though called by their words. "Who's this little purple pipsqueak?"

"My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle," Twilight introduced herself, looking up at the woman clad in skin-tight black armour. "My ruler, Princess Celestia, sent me here to deal with a threat."

"A threat, eh? Seems like this place is a beacon for danger," Calhoun commented, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's threatening the little pipsqueaks this time?"

"She's called a changeling," Twilight explained. "She can take the form of anyone, but usually it's someone with a lot of power. She's already taken over Vanellope, but we don't know where she's being kept."

"Poor little kid," Calhoun sighed. The knowledge gave her more pain than any weapon could. "And right after her wedding, too. At least she had a wedding." She looked extremely upset, right up until a smaller man walked up to her and tentatively took her hand.

"It's okay, Tammy," he said gently. "I know I'm probably nothing like your first husband but you've got me."

"Fix-it, you're nothing like him, but you're perfect anyway. You're sweet and old-fashioned and just perfect for me," she replied, picking him up and holding him close to her.

"'Fix-it'? As in, 'Fix-it Felix'?" Twilight questioned, effectively shattering the moment.

"Yes, I am. Who are you?" Felix asked, turning to look at Twilight. He only had to look down a little to look into her eyes.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," she replied for about the seventh time since coming here. "You're the fixing guy, right?"

"Well, if Ralph's the wrecking guy, then I guess I'm the fixing guy," Felix figured. "Why do you ask?"

"So can you fix a situation like this?" Twilight wondered. She explained it to him and Felix nodded slowly but then shook his head.

"Sorry, princess, but I don't think I can fix something like that," he admitted. "I can only fix damage or injuries."

"That's okay," she sighed. "I'll work something out. I've saved Equestria three times and the Crystal Empire once, so how can saving a game be any different?"

"That's the spirit," Calhoun congratulated her. "You sound like a right hero, Twilight. You don't look it, though. Maybe you're just the brains."

"I've heard that before," Twilight chuckled. "I'm pretty smart and good at magic."

"Well, I'd say you've got nothing to worry about," Calhoun smiled at her. "If you need brawn, we've got Ralph too. He'll be coming soon, he just had to have a little rest. He's been really tired lately."

"Yeah, and he's been off his game," Felix added. "I'm glad the arcade closed early today or a gamer would've complained for sure."

"Wait a minute, so he was acting off?" Twilight asked, worrying that Chrysalis had pulled the same trick on him that she had on her brother.

"Yeah, just really tired," Felix confirmed with a nod. "I put it down to the wedding but if you say this monster could be hurting him..."

"It sounds like she is hurting him," Twilight reported grimly. "We have to stop her or both your games will be unplugged."


	6. Grim Circumstances

"Ralph! Somebody! Help me!" Vanellope screamed as the changelings dragged her away from the hidden tunnel again.

"She keeps escaping," one changeling commented to another, completely ignoring the queen's screams.

"Well, what are we supposed to do? Our queen told us to just keep her tied up with the red vines," his comrade reasoned.

"Yeah, but I'm getting sick of dragging her back to the bed," the other one frowned. "And her screaming is just downright annoying."

"Maybe we should try dropping her," the other suggested with a dark smile.

"Ha! You have to keep me alive!" Vanellope grinned at them, but they dropped her anyway. She screamed for a moment before glitching and reappearing on the bed, giggling. "Jokes on you, Ralph used to do that to me all the time!" She really missed him all of a sudden, and realised that he had really been her driving force for escaping every few hours.

"At least she's quiet now," one of her changeling guards commented happily as she sat morosely on the bed. She was still in her wedding dress, only now it was covered in dust from the new track that ran over the field. If someone fell through, she'd be found. But if a certain someone fell through... it mightn't be too bad. Smiling, she lay back on the bed and allowed the changelings to loop the red vines over her wrists and ankles again. They often grabbed something invisible around her in their teeth and sometimes she felt a sucking feeling from inside her chest, but it never hurt her. It just sent her to sleep easier, like when she was wrapped up in Ralph's arms. And, just like when she was sleeping with him, he was the last thought on her mind.

Ralph thought about Vanellope a lot more lately, but not for reasons of a romantic nature. Sure, she was still the love of his life and the little girl who was now a woman, but lately she'd been acting a little strange. She didn't tease him as readily or mess around with him like she had before, not to mention the fact that she hadn't been too eager to driver her kart around. Because of his worries, she was the last thing he thought of when going to sleep and the first thing he thought of upon waking up. He'd also been tired lately, but he put it down to his stress about her.

While he was walking through Sugar Rush to the castle, he pondered why his wife had been acting so strange. His thoughts always returned there, whether he wanted them to or not. But today they were interrupted.

"Excuse me," a purple pony said, stepping onto the path in front of him. Ralph stood still, wondering why a purple winged unicorn had appeared on the path in front of him. Maybe he hadn't got enough sleep...

"Ralph," Felix said, drawing the wrecker's attention away from the strange creature.

"Yeah?" he responded, looking at his friend.

"Oh, good, you're awake," the purple pony smiled up at him. She considered something for a moment and then jumped into the air to hover in front of him, her beating wings keeping her aloft. "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle and I've got some news about your wife."

"Vanellope? Is there something wrong with her?" he asked, seeing the concerned expression on the pony's face. Or maybe she was just concentrating on staying in midair

"I wouldn't know," Twilight admitted, "I don't actually know where she is."

"But she's in the castle, isn't she?" Ralph worried.

"That's not Vanellope," Twilight sighed. "That's a changeling taking the form of her. We don't know where the real Vanellope is."

"Then I'll beat it out of her," Ralph threatened, fully awake again at the knowledge that Vanellope was in danger again.

"Ralph, no! You can't hurt Chrysalis!" Twilight shouted, throwing a field of telekinesis over him. Unfortunately, he was strong enough to break out of it and ran towards the castle.

"You can't stop a man in love," Felix commented, looking at his wife. She nodded with a soft smile.

"We're doomed," Twilight said quietly, defeated. She wondered if she should call for Celestia's help now.

"Don't give up, Twilight," Snowanna encouraged her. "Ralph ran off towards the castle so maybe we can still make it before he does something stupid. I doubt it but you never know."

"Yes! I can fly there now!" Twilight realised, jumping into the air happily. "I'll meet you guys there." With that, she flew off, leaving the other three characters to trail after her.

When Twilight arrived at the castle, she heard a lot of yelling and smashing. And then she heard the undeniable voice of Queen Chrysalis and her blood ran cold. She was too late. Yet still she ran, her wings flapping at her sides in an attempt to build speed. Finally, she flew through the door of the royal bedchamber and saw Ralph encased in a cocoon like her own mentor had been trapped in during her last tussle with the changeling queen.

"Chrysalis." Her voice was cold, but inside she was a mixture of mad and frightened. She was an alicorn now, more powerful. She should be able to defeat the changeling queen.

"Ah, Twilight, we meet again. I wasn't aware that you had wings," the changeling queen greeted her, turning to face her.

"They're a new addition," the princess replied, not taking her mind from the task at hand. "You must be stronger than before if you managed to encase someone like him."

"Yes, the candy queen's love for her king is much stronger than Cadence's love for your brother," the queen agreed. "His love for her is much stronger, too. My swarm and I have enough food to live here for many more years."

"Where are you keeping her?" Twilight demanded.

"As if I'd tell you," the changeling scoffed. "Do you really think I'm stupid?"

"Yes, actually, I do," Twilight replied, thinking back to Snowanna's warning. "If you weren't stupid, you would have infiltrated a game that doesn't require you to be on two legs all day and drive a kart. You can't drive a kart, so the gamers will be sure to complain sooner or later. And then the game will be unplugged, and where will you be? Trapped here forever."

"How do you know all this?" Chrysalis hissed, glaring at her.

"I did what you were too stupid to do- I talked to one of the racers," Twilight explained, feeling proud that she'd thought to do so.

"How very clever of you," Chrysalis commented, clearly miffed. "It's no wonder that Celestia grew so attached to you. But she's not here to save you now. Guards!" The shout echoed through Twilight's head and before she knew it, two changelings had flown into the room and grabbed her.

"This isn't over, Chrysalis," Twilight growled as the changelings carried her out the door. She hoped that Celestia was still watching, and remained silent until the changelings had reached their hive. She was thrown down the hole but spread her wings and landed safely on the cocoa-dusted floor. Across the room, she could see the true queen of the game sleeping on a marshmallow bed. It looked very comfortable, so at last the changelings were keeping her in somewhat-okay conditions.

"We've got you now, Twilight," one of the changelings sneered. "Where's your princess now?" Twilight walked over to the bed without answering. She wouldn't risk the life of the queen for her own life, that was for sure.

"She's watching my every move," Twilight told them smugly as she stood right at the foot of the marshmallow bed. "Celestia!" As she'd expected, the changelings swarmed on her but Twilight threw a forcefield over both herself and the sleeping queen. The battering against the forcefield soon woke her.

"Hello, Vanellope," Twilight greeted her, not taking her eyes off the space directly in front of her.

"You're not one of them, are you?" Vanellope asked, fear making her voice shake.

"Of course not. Would I be protecting you if I was?" Twilight replied, smiling despite the strain of holding the forcefield up against a barrage of changelings. Now she knew why her brother had been getting so tired. She could even feel a headache coming on...

A sudden crash and suddenly the roof seemed to be caving in. But the light wasn't Celestia. No, it was too big to be her. It was...

"Ralph!" Vanellope squealed happily, jumping to her feet and pressing her palms against the forcefield. "Let me out to go hug him!"

"I think he's a little too busy right now to- huh?" Twilight was amazed at Vanellope's teleporting power. She'd thought that only unicorns could do that!

"Ralph!" Vanellope ran towards her husband and jumped into his arms, sharing a hug with him that was so intense Twilight almost forgot what she was doing. But then she remembered the spell from the last changeling attack and set about disabling as many of the changelings as she could. As soon as she did this, she could go back home to Equestria. But she sure would miss her new friend...


	7. Cavalry

Celestia arrived right on time. After assuring Twilight that the changeling queen was secured in the Fungeon, she joined the battle and dispatched as many of the changelings as she could. And just when Twilight thought that it would be four against many, Calhoun arrived with a very large gun that Twilight did not wish to ever have used on her. Felix had another, smaller, one, but it was just as powerful. Kicks flew, bullets whizzed through the air, and magical discharge was in the air everywhere. Even Vanellope was using her teleporting power to her full advantage, confusing the changelings until they either knocked their heads together or fell over, dizzy. It was working! They were winning!

Finally, it all came down to Celestia against Chrysalis. The changeling queen had somehow escaped the Fungeon, and was the last changeling standing.

"Step aside, magical horse lady," Vanellope said, approaching the changeling queen with pure rage turning her cheeks a very rosy shade.

"If you're sure you can handle her," Celestia decided, and stepped aside but kept a close eye on the two of them. Standing in front of Chrysalis, Vanellope looked like a very pissed-off bride.

"This is for invading my game." A kick landed square on the changeling queen's chest, and a crack could be heard in the cavern. Twilight winced and placed a hoof on her own chest.

"This is for ruining my special day." Another kick landed, this time sending the changeling queen to the ground. She glared up at the racer.

"And this is for tricking my special guy and making him weak!" Chrysalis managed to catch Vanellope's boot in her teeth, but the racer glitched her foot out of there right before Ralph sent his fist down on the creature's skull, effectively crushing it. Wiping his hand on his overalls, he opened his arms and Vanellope fell into them for a hug.

"Thanks for being my hero again," she murmured, wrapping her arms around him and burying her head in his chest. He was smelly, as always, but it was a kind of odour that she found comfort in. And she would always smell sweet, if only because she was almost covered in cocoa dust.

"I'll always be your hero," he promised again, as he had in his wedding vows. Twilight cleared her throat and Vanellope lifted her head to look at her, although she turned in Ralph's arms to lean against him.

"We'd better be off now," Twilight excused herself, looking to the other pony princess. The white-coated mare nodded her confirmation.

"Thanks for helping me and Ralph," Vanellope thanked her, and approached the mare to stroke her mane.

"It was my pleasure," Twilight assured them. "It was very interesting, too. Hopefully I can come back again someday. I know my friend Pinkie would love it here."

"Maybe you can," Celestia agreed with a gentle smile. "Of course, Pinkie would need to have some ground rules set, but I'm sure that you can manage that if you could manage this."


	8. Goodbye

Standing in the Sugar Rush field again, Twilight and Celestia looked towards the sky where the mirror portal opened.

"Are you leaving now?" Snowanna asked sadly.

"Yes but we'll be back someday," Twilight promised, and Celestia agreed.

"We both have busy princess schedules but we'll make time to visit the game we saved from a changeling invasion," the princess of the sun agreed.

"Princess, will the mirror portal still be in the room showing the arcade?" Twilight asked, her fast mind latching onto an idea.

"Yes, I'm sure that it can be arranged," Celestia nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"I just want to keep an eye on this game, that's all," Twilight half-lied. In truth, she wanted to keep an eye on one couple in particular.

"Of course you do," Celestia replied, chuckling gently. "Now, Twilight, we'd better go. Chrysalis' body might start to rot otherwise." Felix had fixed the changeling queen, but she was still very much dead.

"Okay, princess," Twilight beamed, and turned to receive one more hug from Snowanna.

The new king and queen of Sugar Rush watched as the two pony princesses flew into the sky and disappeared through a kind of shimmering golden haze.

"Well, that was interesting," Vanellope commented. "Who would've thought that I'd get overthrown again as soon as I became queen?"

"And then you had to be saved by a princess from an entirely different dimension," Snowanna agreed. "They kind of really fit in here, though."

"The scary part is that she acted like she saved royalty all the time," Calhoun commented, looking curiously towards the sky.

"She probably does," Vanellope smirked. "If she does, maybe she might have to come here again if my future children get into any trouble."

"Future children?" Ralph echoed. "You're thinking ahead a bit far, aren't you?"

"Maybe, maybe not," the queen shrugged. "All I know is that we're not gonna be slowing down anytime soon." With that, she jumped into her husband's arms and lavished affection on him, trying to make up for all the time she'd been kept captive. It had only been a few days, but it had felt like weeks to her. And, with as tired as he was, Ralph thought so too.


	9. The Watcher

Twilight settled down in her favourite place on a pillow in front of the mirror portal. Even after ten years and with all the things she had going on, she still loved to see what her friends were up to. Some of the racers had been aged up, and there was even a new one there as well. She was named Princess Sprinkles, and Twilight felt a glow of pride every time she saw her. She'd visited once or twice while Sprinkles was growing up, and had even seen the other little member of royalty in her father's game.

She almost wanted to go into the arcade, but knew to wait until after closing time. And so she watched and waited. Sprinkles was as fast as her mother when it came to racing, but she was bigger-boned which made taking quick corners very difficult. Meanwhile, Smash-it Stacey was an addition to the ever-popular Fix-it Felix Jr. game, along with Mend-it Mabel. Mabel's mother was, of course, unhappy with the name, but her father had convinced her that it fit into the game easily. While Stacey threw bricks from her father's shoulders, Mabel helped to fix the building. She had been incorporated into the game as a second-player option, which the gamers received with joy.

"Why, Twilight, it seems that you've grown quite attached to your friends," Celestia smiled as she came into the room and levitated out a pillow to curl up on beside her fellow princess.

"Yeah, I guess I have," Twilight admitted, still watching as Sprinkles crossed the finish line in third place. She wasn't a favourite with most of the gamers because of her handling issues on corners, but some of the tracks had fewer corners so she was generally chosen for them.

"If we didn't have a lot of work to do tomorrow, we could pay them another visit tonight," Celestia mused.

"Maybe some other day," Twilight agreed, smiling as the call for the arcade closing was put out. Using her magic, Twilight zoomed in on the mirror to see Ralph exiting his game with Stacey sitting on one of his shoulders. Vanellope soon met him in Game Central Station, giggling as Sprinkles ran to Ralph and climbed up onto his other shoulder. The royal couple embraced and then kissed, and Twilight cooed over the utter romance of the moment. Sometimes, she mused, romance was one of the best kinds of friendship. And this time, she didn't even have to write the princess a letter on her findings, because she'd seen the whole thing firsthand.


End file.
